Aston Villa vs Club Brugge predictions: Villans eye home repeat
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- Aston Villa lead 3-1 from the first leg
- Winners face Liverpool or Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight
- Recommended bet: Aston Villa to win and both teams to score
Aston Villa's debut season in the Champions League has been an enjoyable ride so far and the Premier League side are on the verge of a quarter-final place after a 3-1 first-leg win in the last 16 over Club Brugge last week.
Unai Emery's men should get the job done at home on Wednesday to set up a possible mouth-watering last-eight showdown with either Liverpool or Paris Saint-Germain.
Team news
Emery is hoping first-choice keeper Emiliano Martinez and recent signing Marco Asensio will both be fit to play on Wednesday after they were left out of Saturday's 1-0 Premier League win at Brentford due to minor muscle issues.
Pau Torres was on the bench against the Bees and could feature, but Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley remain on the sidelines.
Raphael Onyedika returned for Club Brugge in their 3-1 win at Cercle Brugge on Sunday, but Bjorn Meijer and Joaquin Seys are expected to miss out again for the visitors due to injury.
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The stats
Villa have now won four of their last five games in all competitions after a 1-0 Premier League victory at Brentford on Saturday.
Emery's side have only lost twice at home in all competitions this season and beat Bayern Munich, Bologna and Celtic and drew with Juventus at home during the League Phase.
Club Brugge have scored in each of their last 12 matches.
The Belgian side only just secured a play-off place after the League Phase by finishing 24th on 11 points.
The two sides met in the first stage of the competition when Club Brugge won 1-0 at home.
Prediction
After just about avoiding a place in the play-off round when finishing eighth in the table, Aston Villa secured a tense 3-1 win in Bruges in the first leg of this last-16 tie.
The Midlanders had a fair bit of luck last week as they profited from a Brandon Mechele own goal, while a late penalty from Asensio sealed the away victory and importantly handed them a two-goal cushion to protect at Villa Park.
On home turf, Villa have been largely outstanding this season, losing only to Arsenal in the league and Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and victories in front of their own fans in Europe this season over Bayern Munich and Celtic, in particular, will live long in the memory.
With a place in the last eight within their reach, this could be another special evening at Villa Park, although they may have to withstand some pressure from the visitors, who are tipped to score in another defeat.
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